Nigel Farage received a £5m gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harbourne, triggering allegations against him and Reform party figures including deputy Richard Tice and George Cottrell, amid questions about his political comeback.
Former FBI supervisory special agent Patrick Steven Yaroch is charged with stealing nearly $1M in cryptocurrency from FBI counterintelligence wallets and seeking ChatGPT advice on investing and relocating overseas.
A Chinese study highlights cryptocurrency's dual nature, facilitating illicit activities like money laundering while offering regulatory tools to combat financial crime. This comes as Chinese prosecutors indicted 3,259 people in 2025 for crypto-related money laundering.
Russia has expanded its cryptocurrency mining restrictions to Moscow, the Moscow Region, and parts of the Kursk Region, with the ban taking effect on August 15, 2026, and lasting until December 31, 2032, citing growing electricity demand.
A raid in Malaysia revealed how cryptocurrency mining is increasingly linked to electricity theft and organized crime across Southeast Asia, causing billions in losses for utilities and prompting governments to enhance enforcement and legislation.
A Consumer Federation of America report estimates $80.7 billion in scam and cybercrime losses in the US, with cryptocurrency scams accounting for over half, at $61.4 billion estimated loss, based on FBI-reported $11.37 billion, a 22% increase from 2024.
Zcash activates Ironwood upgrade, retiring vulnerable Orchard pool, introducing new accounting rules, and enhancing privacy/security, following a critical vulnerability that sparked a 38% market rout.
45% of crypto investors cite diversification as their primary reason for holding digital assets, but experts warn of volatility and conditional benefits, recommending small allocations (1-3%) to balance risk and diversification.
Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina announced there are no restrictions for investors to withdraw cryptocurrency abroad, but cautioned that Russian law does not protect investors operating outside the country's jurisdiction.
Bitcoin dropped below $65,000 as rising oil prices, fueled by Red Sea tanker attacks and US threats against Iran, pushed Treasury yields higher and triggered a broader retreat from risk assets, impacting spot demand and ETF flows.
The EU unveiled its largest sanctions package in four years against Russia, leading FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich to suspend his activity. The measures target 218 individuals and entities, including banks, vessels, and military-industrial complex, while Ukraine faces ongoing attacks.
Binance has partnered with UK nonprofit STOP THE TRAFFIK to enhance its capabilities in identifying and investigating cryptocurrency activity linked to human trafficking and child exploitation, receiving specialized intelligence and training.
US Senate Republicans released an updated CLARITY Act text on July 22, advancing a federal market-structure framework for digital assets. The bill addresses ethics rules for officials, stablecoin rewards, and developer protections, moving towards a potential floor vote despite ongoing negotiations.
The U.S. Senate is considering updated legislation, the Clarity Act, to ban federal officials, including presidents, from issuing or sponsoring cryptocurrencies. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Cynthia Lummis, faces opposition from some Democrats who argue its ethics provisions, enforced by the DOJ, are too weak, especially concerning former President Trump's crypto ventures.
The US Department of Justice filed five civil forfeiture complaints seeking over $25 million in crypto linked to international investment, romance, and recovery scams. Investigations by the Cyber Fraud Task Force identified thousands of victims in the US and Canada, with launderers primarily in Southeast Asia.
President Trump has reportedly accepted proposed ethics restrictions for the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, a key hurdle in US crypto legislation. This moves the decision to Senate Democrats, who must now review the language and decide if it's sufficient to secure the necessary votes for passage amidst Trump's family's crypto interests.
A new UNODC report reveals online scams, primarily investment fraud, cost victims an estimated US$88.3 billion to US$114.1 billion last year, a significant increase from 2023. Authorities in an unspecified region are reportedly cracking down on this illicit industry under pressure from the United States, Britain, and China.
Russia's State Duma passed its first comprehensive cryptocurrency law, establishing a licensing regime for exchanges and limiting legal trading to Bitcoin and Ethereum for most investors. The law, expected to take effect September 1, permits crypto for international trade to circumvent Western sanctions, while banning privacy coins and domestic crypto payments.
Russia's State Duma is holding final readings on a bill to regulate cryptocurrency, introducing annual purchase limits for non-qualified investors (300,000 rubles) and cross-border transfer limits, aiming to establish a legal framework by Sept. 1.
India's virtual digital asset (VDA) taxation remains among the world's toughest, imposing a 30% flat tax on gains and 1% TDS on transactions. Rules prohibit loss offsets and tax airdrops/staking rewards, with severe penalties for non-disclosure of overseas holdings.
LimeWire, a generative AI platform, empowers creators to produce, share, and monetize AI-generated content, including images, with upcoming music and video tools, offering NFT minting, ad revenue, and royalty models.
Kaspersky identified "OkoBot," a new malware framework targeting crypto investors by stealing wallet data and credentials. Separately, SlowMist warned of fake LinkedIn recruitment campaigns delivering remote access trojans to Web3 developers, posing significant cybersecurity risks.
Blockchain technology, initially proposed by Haber and Stornetta and popularized by Nakamoto, is a distributed digital ledger that stores data in immutable, timestamped blocks. It enables secure, decentralized transactions without third parties, used in cryptocurrencies and adopted by companies like Walmart and IBM for supply chain tracking, offering benefits like increased accuracy and security despite data storage limits and regulatory changes.
A macOS malware steals data from Keychain, Safari, Apple Notes, Telegram Desktop, and 13+ crypto wallets, compromising sessions and wallets even with 2FA, as discovered by SlowMist.
